Politics

Christmas is coming early this year for Stanley, who came to turn over his old revolvers and several rifle magazines to police in the violence-plagued US city of Baltimore in exchange for cash."I'm hoping to get $700, to buy my three kids Christmas gifts,"

Jorge's putrefied corpse would have been buried in an unmarked grave but for a rehydration technique pioneered in Mexico that allowed him to be identified by his tattoos and given the send-off his family wanted.In the northern city of Ciudad Juarez -- once co

A Catalan pro-independence leader in pre-trial detention for nearly a year has urged separatists to avoid violence during protests planned against a Spanish government meeting in Barcelona on Friday."I would not like it if people, with their faces covered, de

One after another, the mothers sat their babies in the shade, on a mat placed on the dusty ground. This morning at least, their children will have enough to eat.In the village of Ifotaka, at the southern tip of Madagascar, the noise and excitement of the count

A judge in El Salvador on Monday acquitted a 20-year-old rape victim originally charged with murder after giving birth prematurely in a toilet.Imelda Cortez's daughter survived but the woman was charged homicide after the baby was found in a septic tank.It wa

Georgia on Sunday swore in its first female president, Salome Zurabishvili as opposition parties continue to denounce her election as fraudulent and demand snap parliamentary polls.The inauguration paved the way for a new constitution to come into force, trans

A sleepy central Philippine town erupted in joy on Saturday as bells looted from its church more than a century ago by vengeful US troops were turned over to the community, and rang once again on their home soil.Children waving bell-shaped signs and tearful re

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday pledged to reform his party and promote democracy in his closing address to the ruling ZANU PF party's annual conference.In a speech that marked the latest move in efforts to end his country's internationa

The conflict over Europe that has been tearing the Conservatives apart for three decades is as evident on the streets of English towns as it is in the corridors of power.In Leave-voting Hastings, on the south coast of England, the faultlines of a bitter rivalr

Brazil on Friday launched with military pomp the first of five navy attack submarines it is building under a $7.6-billion technology-sharing deal struck with France.President Michel Temer and his elected successor Jair Bolsonaro attended the hours-long ceremon

In the small Scottish fishing village of Pittenweem, residents are worried the political wrangling in London is pushing their dream of Brexit beyond the North Sea horizon."Brexit -- how do you describe it? It's an unknown now," said Richard Scott, a local f

A stuffed deer stands in a former US ammunition store just outside the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas, tree branches spreading up from its antlers towards the roof.The work was installed this year at Camp Greaves, a former US army facility with

Every day from dawn, a fleet of forklift trucks carries crates of roses, tulips, chrysanthemums and 22,000 other flower varieties through the world's biggest flower market.Yme Pasma, chief operating officer for Royal FloraHolland, keeps a watchful eye as work

International observers on Thursday raised concerns about violence in Togo before elections later this month, which the government has said will go ahead despite the unrest and an opposition boycott.The tiny west African country has seen a wave of opposition p

The vast Amazon forest may be hard to penetrate, posing a problem for authorities trying to stop illegal logging -- but there are still eyes in the sky keeping track of the destruction.For three decades, a group of researchers have been monitoring forest clear

Jailed top Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas said he was a "political hostage" on Wednesday during his first court appearance in Turkey since a European rights court demanded his release.The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) last month slammed the p

At least two people were killed Wednesday in clashes with police on the sidelines of an opposition rally in eastern DR Congo ahead of this month's presidential elections, several sources said.The violence erupted in Kalemie, a town on Lake Tanganyika as oppos

Donald Trump rails on an almost daily basis against the federal probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected to the White House.But the investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller into the 2016 election is just one of many on

New Zealand warned Google to "take responsibility" for its news content Wednesday, after the internet giant broke a court order suppressing the name of a man charged with murdering a British backpacker.An Auckland court granted the man interim name suppressi

Cuba will leave out of its new constitution changes that would have paved the way for legal same-sex marriage, despite majority support in local assemblies, a government official said Tuesday. It was a surprising twist given public popular support shown nation

Jorge's putrefied corpse would have been buried in an unmarked grave but for a rehydration technique pioneered in Mexico that allowed him to be identified by his tattoos and given the send-off his family wanted.In the northern city of Ciudad Juarez -- once co

In a lush valley west of Caracas, two teams of burly rugby players bolt onto a field like colts, cheers rising from a small crowd of onlookers.The only jarring note in this bucolic scene -- surrounded by mountains, high trees and sugar plantations -- are the 1

British MPs head off for Christmas with just 100 days to go until Brexit, leaving a country in limbo with no divorce deal in place and total confusion over what happens next.Prime Minister Theresa May, who is holding her last question session of the year in pa

Facebook has removed hundreds of pages and accounts in Myanmar with hidden links to the military, the platform said Wednesday, as the company scrambles to respond to criticism over failures to control hate speech and misinformation.The social media giant -- My

Luanne Wright was all set for retirement when the deadliest wildfire in California history swept through her town of Paradise. The blaze incinerated her home, her car and even the chickens in her backyard.Now Wright is spending the days leading up to Christmas

Authorities in the US state of Pennsylvania have given Uber the green light to resume testing self-driving cars, the ride-sharing giant said Tuesday, after a fatal crash in Arizona prompted a pause.Uber said it had received authorization to put autonomous cars

The US central bank opened its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday and, despite renewed attacks from President Donald Trump, is expected to announce the fourth interest rate increase of 2018.While the Federal Reserve may feel pressure to demonstrate its independ

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Jamaican star Alia Atkinson celebrated turning 30 by finally winning 50m breaststroke gold at the short course World Swimming Championships on Wednesday, as the record-smashing United States dominated.Atkinson's landmark birthday was on Tuesday but she had to

Since US President Donald Trump weaponised the term "fake news" during the 2016 presidential election campaign, the phrase has gone viral.Increasingly it is used by politicians around the world to denounce or dismiss news reports that do not fit their versio

Swiss skier Marc Gisin has been airlifted to hospital after suffering a spectacular high speed crash while competing in the men's World Cup downhill race at Val Gardena in Italy on Saturday.The 30-year-old lost control of his skis and was thrown high in the a

Malaysia on Monday filed criminal charges against Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs and two of its former employees over the scandal surrounding state fund 1MDB, authorities said.Charges were filed against subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs and former employees Tim L

Rare scenes of chaos gripped the Hungarian parliament Wednesday as it passed a controversial judicial reform, as well as labour legislation that critics call a "slave law".Prime Minister Viktor Orban attended the session during which opposition lawmakers ble

The French government on Thursday urged "yellow vest" protesters to refrain from holding another round of demonstrations this weekend, citing the strain on security forces on high alert after the terror attack at a Christmas market in Strasbourg."For now we

India's P.V. Sindhu pulled off a shock at the badminton World Tour Finals on Thursday as she fought back to defeat top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying for the first time in over two years.Sindhu sank to her knees at the end of an exhausting 14-21, 21-16, 21-18 victory ov

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen announced Friday that he will retire after next year's World Cup in Japan, saying the world champions needed some "fresh thinking"."I think it's right for the team to have someone new after the World Cup, some fresh eyes, som

New Zealand opener Tom Latham scored his maiden double century Monday as Sri Lanka's attack enjoyed some rare success in the first Test at Wellington's Basin Reserve.Latham brought up his 200 after lunch on day three, taking New Zealand to 495 for five and s

Several hundred people gathered in Strasbourg Sunday to honour the victims of an attack on the city's popular Christmas market that left four dead.People, many in tears, gathered around a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles at the foot of the enormous Chr

The Russian troll farm that disrupted the 2016 US presidential election sought particularly to demoralize African-Americans and deter them from voting, according to a comprehensive new report for the Senate.The primary goal of the St Petersburg-based Internet

England's two most successful clubs Liverpool and Manchester United head into their first meeting of the season on Sunday at Anfield in very different form after wildly contrasting campaigns to date.Premier League leaders Liverpool boast a 16-point lead over

US investigators believe that Chinese intelligence was behind the massive hack of data on some 500 million guests of hotel giant Marriott, the New York Times reported Wednesday.The hackers are believed to have been working for the Ministry of State Security an